Procure to Pay

Perfect Invoice Guidelines 2017

Unilever Nigeria Plc
 Unilever Nigeria Plc
Invoicing Golden Rules

• Commence work only once you have received a valid Purchase Order, at
Unilever we strictly adhere to ‘ NO PO NO PAY’
• Send compliant tax/commercial invoices that adheres to Unilever’s invoicing
requirements. (Refer page 6 – Unilever Invoicing requirements).
• Provide documents to fully support your invoice claim.(Delivery Note/waybill
with PO is mandatory for Factory Deliveries, Job Completion form to be submitted
with all Service Invoices)
• Ensure that the bank account details including SWIFT and IBAN in case of
Foreign payments are rightly mentioned on the invoice.
• Invoice should be Commercial/tax and not Proforma invoice, and should have
unique invoice number.
• Ensure the Tax/Commercial invoice is in same currency as the PO is
• Ensure you do not consolidate multiple Purchase Order lines into 1 line on
the invoice (Example, if the PO has service rate on line 1 and expenses on line
2 do not consolidate them as one entry on the invoice).
• Ensure additional costs like freight costs are clearly mentioned on Invoice in
separate line.
• Submit the invoice within 7 days of delivery of the goods / service.(Note that
Payment terms will be effective from date of invoice submission and not Invoice
date)
• In case of change in your contacts/ Address/ Bank Details please mark your
UL Requestor in copy and send an email to our HELPDESK stating the
changed information. This will enable us to change our records and does not
cause delay in Payment to your invoices. (Refer page 5 for information on
Helpdesk)
• It is helpful to mention the name of the Unilever Requestor on the invoice.
• Ensure invoice print quality is reasonably good and readable.
• The invoice should be handed over in person only to the Bill to Address
mentioned on PO/DO or can be mailed over given Id’s on page 4

Note: Invoice failing to comply with all of above golden rules will be rejected

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Unilever Nigeria Plc
Invoicing Golden Rules
Important things to remember:

 If you have not received a valid Purchase Order (10 digit) number starting
with 45XXXXXXXX series PO or DOXXXXXXXX via a system generated email,
please inform your Unilever Requestor. Invoices without valid Purchase
Oder reference would be rejected.
 Only raise your invoice once you have the valid Purchase Order and have
successfully delivered the good/service (unless partial/staged invoices
have been agreed).
 The Tax / Commercial Invoice should correctly reflect Unilever PO/DO
number & Supplier Delivery Note Number (Mandatory for Goods, optional
for service which will expedite the pay process)
 For Tax Legislation VAT number for Unilever Nigeria Plc must appear on the
Tax Invoice
VAT NO : 4280240476
Company Registration No : 1986/000431/07
 Unilever follows strict No PO No Pay policy which precludes us from paying
any invoice without a formal Purchase Order (PO/DO) issued for our
suppliers first.
 Invoice date should be after the PO/ DO date.
 Please ensure any previously agreed changes to the PO are reflected in
your invoice.
 Indicate the Purchase Order on the front page of the invoice. It may also be
referred to as Direct Order (DO) number.
 Credit Notes must reflect the Original Invoice number or the PO/DO
number in case of overstated invoices. (Exception would be credit to be
availed on an agreement basis for a timely pay-out)
 For Foreign Invoices amount will be paid to Bank details reflecting on
Invoice, as such ensure the details are updated and correct For Local
Vendors the invoices will be paid to bank account details updated in our
Vendor Master data. In case if there is any change to your bank accounts
please reach out to your UL Requestor with all supporting's and get the
details updated

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Invoice Submission
Once goods and services have been delivered to Unilever Nigeria,
Supplier can choose any one of the below method to send the valid
Tax/Commercial Invoice

1. Via Physical Submission : The Invoice has to be handed over in

Person by the Vendor at the security desk addressing it clearly to
Account Payable Team
ATTN : Accounts Payable Team
Unilever Nigeria Plc
1 Billings Way, Oregun

2. Via Mail : Send the Tax / Commercial Invoice soft copy to the
below mail address of the Accounts Payable team
APEnquiries.unilevernigeria@unilever.com with a CC to below AP Contacts
Ibrahim.Balogun@unilever.com &
Opeyemi.Thomas@unilever.com

Note : Supplier to choose only 1 method for sending invoices, please do not
duplicate and send invoices. Also Delivery Note /Way bills are a must to attach
along with Goods Invoices. The Job Completion form duly received from UL
Requester must be accompanied with all Service Invoices .

APPLICABLE ONLY FOR FOREIGN SUPPLIERS / FOREIGN CURRENCY

TAX INVOICES: Adhere to all of the above compliant tax invoices
rules, and in addition:
1. For Goods Tax Invoices - ** All shipping documents, Customs
documents along with tax / commercial invoice must be sent to
your nominated person ( UL Requestor /Procurement agent ). The
nominated person will then verify all the supporting's and invoice
along with GR done and accordingly hand it over to Accounts
Payable team for Scanning & Processing. In accordance with the
Central Bank rules, no foreign invoice for goods will be paid unless
complete supporting documents are attached
2. For Service Tax Invoice- All of the above compliant tax/
commercial invoices rules to be adhered to. These invoices should
also be accompanied with Job Completion form duly received from the
UL Requestor. 2
 Checking Your Invoice Status
Tungsten Invoice Status Service, also known as Vendor Query Portal is
an online service that gives you full visibility of your invoice processing
and payment status, regardless of your invoice submission method.
The benefits of Vendor Query Portal (VQP) include:
• Simple and fast registration and login through the Tungsten Portal to
quickly see the status of your invoice .
• Invoice information available from time of receipt through to final
payment. No need to call or email Unilever’s Helpdesk.
• You have full control over the frequency of the update
• Extensive exception management for your existing business
processes
• Tailored to your local language and supported by local customer
service teams
• This functionality is Free of Charge – No Cost involved.
Below is a link to a video that will aid to explain this functionality further:
https://www.tungsten-network.com/uk/suppliers/get-invoice-status/

Self- Registration for VQP:

Click the link below to go to Unilever VQP welcome page. Click register or
Enroll now link on the page
https://portal.tungsten-network.com/Forms/Ticket/NewSupportRequest.aspx
• If the registration is successful, choose to “Connect with your Customer” on
the Tungsten portal
• Else, if registration failed due to certain reasons such as “company name
already exists”, raise a service ticket in the portal under the section of “help
and support >
• Contact us Link:
http://www.tungsten-network.com/uk/help-support/contact-us/

Helpdesk:
For Procure to Pay related queries, you may also contact the Unilever
helpdesk below:

Country Purchase Order & Accounts Payable & Ariba

Procurement Contact Contact Details

Nigeria Finance.IP.NG@unilever.com Finance.AP.NG@unilever.com

Tel: +234-7080601746 Tel: +234-7080601746

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 Unilever Invoicing Requirements:
All Non-Compliant Invoices will be rejected for processing. To ensure compliance per our
requirements, please see below fields that should be present at the face of your invoice:

Notes:
• Ensure the invoice is made out to the correct Unilever Business Unit and sent to the correct
invoicing address which is outlined in the Purchase Order.
• Ensure that the product/service you deliver matches the Purchase Order specifications
(quantity, price, etc.)
• Ensure your invoice is in the same metrics & denomination as quoted on the Purchase Order.
For e.g. If the order is in kg then the invoice should be in kg, if currency is EUR then the invoice
should be in EUR.
• Please ensure any previously agreed changes to the Purchase Order are reflected in your
invoice.
• If a credit note is required, please ensure it contains the necessary invoice & Purchase Order
number.
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Interpreting Unilever’s Purchase Order